


Stop, You're Boys

by Calacious



Category: Boy Meets World
Genre: Chaste Kiss, Cory-centered, Episode Remix, Episode:s05e03 It's Not You It's Me..., F/M, Fluffy Ending, M/M, Pre-Slash, Teen Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-05
Updated: 2015-11-05
Packaged: 2018-04-30 03:30:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5148635
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Calacious/pseuds/Calacious
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Shawn tells him that they need to make new friends. Cory doesn't want to.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stop, You're Boys

**Author's Note:**

> This is a work of fiction, and no profit is being made, monetary or otherwise, through the writing of this. It is based on the following episode of, "Boy Meets World": “It’s Not You, It’s Me…” – Best buddies Shawn and Cory stop speaking to each other and seek new friends.  
> 1997, October 17th Season 5 episode 3
> 
> I was really bothered by how the shared affection between the two boys was treated in this episode, and this is where my mind took me; there was no kiss in the episode. I know this is imperfect, and honestly, I've been going through a dry spell, so I don't want to shoot down any ideas that come to my mind when something sparks writing.
> 
> This does feature some dialogue from the episode.
> 
> Please, let me know if you liked this. Thanks.

Cory and Shawn have been best friends for ten years. From the moment that Shawn pulled Cory out of the lama exhibition at the zoo, and Cory agreed to have lunch with him, they’ve been almost inseparable.

Stolen hugs, when no one, especially Topanga, is looking. It’s not that they think anything of hugging; it’s just, that’s not what guys do. At least not in public where everyone can see.

It's the kiss that throws him.  It’s chaste. On the cheek. Lips barely touching, yet Cory can feel the heat of them resting there, days later, long after Shawn’s left, gone into hiding, avoiding Cory at every turn, saying that they need to make new friends. Cory doesn’t want to make new friends. He wants Shawn, but Shawn doesn’t want him.

_“It’s not you, it’s me,”_ Shawn had said. Cory doesn’t know what to do with that.

It’s always been him and Shawn as far back as he can remember. It feels like he’s missing a limb. Shawn’s his right hand. His left leg. His pinkie toe.

It's not fair, and it’s unsettling, and Cory’s half certain that Mr. Feeny would have the right word for what he's feeling right now, but it's not like he can go up to the man and ask him what it is. Can't. Because stolen hugs are one thing, but kisses, between two boys, when one of them has a girlfriend, is something else entirely. Something that Cory, right now, is afraid to name, because he can still feel Shawn's lips on his cheek, and it's nothing like the feel of Topanga's. With her, there's no lingering aftermath. A tingle, yes, but no spark of electricity.

The thing is, he likes kissing Topanga. Loves it, but that’s all that he’s ever really known, and until Shawn had accidentally on purpose kissed him on the cheek, he’d thought that Topanga’s kisses were the best that life had to offer him. That they were the end all be all of kisses for him. Now he knows differently, and the knowledge of it burns like acid, twisting his stomach, turning his mind around in dizzying circles.

_“Stop it, you’re boys.”_

Topanga’s words from long ago, from moments ago, from forever, have always kept him in check. Until now, when Shawn’s abandoned him, because Cory’s on the track to college, and Shawn’s a ‘townie’, giving Cory time to really think about things. About him and Shawn, and Topanga (the wife).

_Stop it, you’re boys... and you shouldn’t love each other like that, the words that no one ever says are the ones that get stuck on repeat in Cory’s head._

_Stop it, you’re boys, and you shouldn’t hug in public, where people can see and get the wrong idea._

_Stop it, you’re boys, and you shouldn’t say, I love you, or I care about you, or I need you, unless it’s in private, because people won’t understand, and they’ll think that you’re gay._

_But ..._ Cory wonders when the thoughts and memories of his parents, Topanga, his classmates, stop assaulting his mind. _What if I_ am _gay? What if I_ do _like Shawn that way? Would that be such a bad thing?_

Cory tries to move on from Shawn, but there’s a steady ache in his chest, and maybe he’s wrong about Shawn being a missing limb, because it sure seems like he’s much more than that, like he’s some key part of Cory’s heart. An aortic valve, or maybe one of the chambers. Heck, maybe Shawn is his heart, because it feels like there’s a gaping hole in his chest, and it hurts whenever he sees Shawn with his new friends.

It’s not jealousy. Really, it’s not. It’s just that...even though it’s only been a couple of days, he misses Shawn, and he wants his friend, his _heart_ , back, and Lionel doesn’t fill in any of the empty spaces inside of him that Shawn’s absence has left.

Cory wants to take Shawn to Vermont to see the changing of the leaves, to see his face light up in wonder. He wants to go to college, too, but he doesn’t want to lose Shawn. Fighting with Shawn just makes things worse, and leaves Cory feeling sick, and confused, and like he’s broken.

And, again, it’s not jealousy that’s twisting him up inside, it’s the memory of the kiss, of their friendship, and the knowledge of how easy it is for Shawn to just move on from it all, like they meant nothing to each other. Like Cory hadn’t taken up any space in Shawn’s life at all. Like it’s easy for Shawn to replace Cory, because Cory had never really mattered to him in the first place. That’s what gets to him, because Shawn meant...means...the whole world to Cory.

Topanga and Mr. Feeny’s joint ‘sting’ operation catches him unawares, though he supposes that he should have been prepared for something like that. Should have known that Mr. Feeny didn’t have an extra pair of tickets to Sunday’s Eagles’ game for him.

“You two have been the best of friends for as long as I’ve known you, now, when did this problem start?” Feeny’s question sparks something inside of Cory, a jerking in his heart.  

“The day he met me...” Shawn’s words ring in Cory’s mind, and he remembers the day they met, how he’d spieled off words that he’d overheard from boys who hadn’t really been his friends, boys who'd scattered when he'd fallen into the lama pit. They were words he hadn't meant. Words said so that he could fit in. He doesn't want to just 'fit in' anymore, though. He wants, no, he _needs_ , Shawn.

The hug comes as second nature as the memories spill forth, and with Shawn’s arms around him, Cory’s heart feels like it’s finally back in his chest, where it belongs. They part at Topanga’s, “Stop, you’re boys,” but Cory doesn’t want the hug to end then, maybe not ever, and he wonders if Shawn will ever kiss him again. Kind of hopes that, one day, he will. 


End file.
